Amazon Web Services Brings Agentic Payments to Big Tech
AI agents are getting a more capable transaction framework through a collaboration between Amazon Web Services, Coinbase, and Stripe. Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Payments is AWS’s new suite of features designed to let AI agents instantly access and pay for services like web content and APIs. On the payments side, Stripe and Coinbase will each […]
Canary in the Coalmine: Revolving Debt Surges 9.1%
For credit card lenders, there is good news and bad news when revolving debt accelerates. Right now, the news is not particularly good. On May 7, the Federal Reserve reported that debt carried over from month to month grew by an annualized rate of 9.1%. This is the highest rate since 2022. In comparison, the annualized […]
Inside the Growth of First-Party Fraud
A consumer buys a dress for a wedding, wears it once, and returns it the next day for a full refund. Another claims a package never arrived, despite tracking data showing it was delivered. Individually, these incidents may seem minor—or even easy to dismiss. In reality, they are examples two rapidly growing forms of first-party […]
Morgan Stanley May Have Reset the Crypto Trading Fee Baseline
A new pricing war is emerging in crypto trading as traditional brokerages move to challenge both crypto-native platforms and retail trading apps on fees, access, and trust. E*TRADE, owned by Morgan Stanley, has launched a pilot spot crypto trading service for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, charging 50 basis points (0.5%) per transaction. That undercuts rival […]
China and Indonesia Link QR Payment Systems in Cross-Border Push
Increasing payment connectivity across Southeast Asia has become a focus for China, and a new initiative is set to tighten those links further by connecting Indonesia’s Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) with major Chinese payment ecosystems, including Alipay and UnionPay. The result is a more seamless payment bridge between two of the region’s largest […]
The Passkey You Can’t Steal: Why Hardware Beats Software for High-Stakes Authentication
Today is World Passkey Day. And while the industry celebrates the shift away from passwords, the more important question is what kind of passkey replaces them. Many organizations recognize that passwords are on the way out, with passkeys emerging as a replacement. What’s less widely understood is that the two main types of passkeys—synced and […]
Disneyland Testing Move Toward a Cashless Park
Scrooge McDuck may not be happy about it, but Disneyland is testing a shift away from cash. Many of the theme park’s outdoor vending carts are now accepting only electronic payments as part of a new pilot program. The new signage, first reported by theme‑park site Mickey Visit, reads: “CASHLESS LOCATION | Please pay with […]
Google Cloud and Solana Streamline AI Agent Payments
Artificial intelligence agents are increasingly capable of making decisions and taking action online—but when it comes payments, they still run into systems built for humans. Solana and Google Cloud’s Pay.sh gateway aims to change that. To access enterprise-grade APIs, AI agents are frequently required to authenticate, create accounts, and manage monthly subscriptions in order to […]
Reducing Friction in Automotive Collections
High interest rates didn’t just make cars more expensive—they made getting paid more uncertain for auto lenders. As loan terms stretch longer and household budgets tighten, dealers are finding that collecting payments has become just as challenging as closing the sale. And with delinquency rates nearing historic highs, how dealers approach collections matters more than […]
Apple Expands Wallet to Support Tickets, Passes, and Gift Cards
Apple is tightening its grip on the digital wallet with a new feature designed to eliminate one of its last gaps—unsupported passes and tickets. According to Bloomberg, the feature will be included in the upcoming iOS 27 Wallet update. If a gym or ticketing app provides a QR code for entry that can’t currently be […]